Anchor Your Heart

“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”Luke 2:19

Mary thought that she had heard and seen it all. Angelic visitations. Giving birth to the Son of God. Visits from strangers like the magi and the shepherds. A cosmic phenomenon.

Then came, Calvary. At the foot of the cross, Mary, a bit older and grayer, beheld with her own eyes the bludgeoned body of her first-born hanging between thieves. It was a sight that she wasn’t prepared to see at all. It was devastating. At that moment, the prophecy of Simeon – “a sword will pierce your own soul too” – came into a shocking fulfillment (Luke 2:35).

Fast forward to the day of Pentecost. Mary was still right there beside the apostles and the disciples of Jesus at the Upper Room, believing and praying (Acts 1:14).

But what kept Mary stay with Jesus? What made her remain with him during the most tumultuous time of Jesus’ ministry. What was Mary’s secret to her endurance and tenacity?

Her being the mother of Jesus? Her faith? Was it the grace accorded to her by the angel Gabriel? I think all of the above played a pivotal role in her steadfastness. But even then, without Mary believing and being persuaded of the veracity of those experiences she had, Mary would not have stayed strong and solid until the end.

So what was the key that made Mary endure? It was those that she “treasured and pondered in her heart” – the scriptural revelations and prophecies, first-hand accounts as well as deep experiences with Christ – that provided her with that anchor that kept her steady and strong through all those years, both as the mother of the Lord and as His disciple.

Whether you will succeed or fail in your future depends on the kind of thoughts, convictions, and longings that you keep deep within you. Our thoughts and convictions serve as anchors (1 Timothy 1:19). They keep us stable, centered and solid in our personhood and spirituality. If your inner life has no anchor, then, you will end up adrift and lost. But if God and in His words as well as the teachings of the sent ones of God are where your life is anchored, then, surely, you will thrive and succeed, like Mary did! (Psalms 1:2-3, Joshua 1:7-8).